118 books from 51 Nightstands~2017

I started The Nightstand Collective Project in order to learn what other people were doing with their time while confined to bed; what tools were they using for their physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. I have often found the process of managing chronic illness to be an isolating experience, and the times when I was consumed with trying to understand this process in my body has ebbed and flowed. I wanted to know what other people were experiencing and working with during these vulnerable times. The items on our bedroom nightstand are the most revealing in this journey. I was curious.

After a year of collecting nightstand stories I am starting to see some patterns and themes that run throughout all of the nightstands. One of and the strongest items by far is the old fashioned book. Actual paper books are thriving! A few Kindle's are featured and when they are I have asked for the top books being read at the time, but by and large books are the rule. I have gathered the list of all the books from 51 nightstands and here it is. I am simply fascinated by this list. I had anticipated the books to be primarily about illness, and was honestly surprised to find that they are hardly any on the topic of physical illness, but rather books on tools to manage spiritual and mental health. Lots of plain old fantasy distraction and coloring books are heavily used. Largely missing from this list is romance novels. Interesting.